Mindfulness & Psychotherapy

21 Days of Purpose: A Free eCourse for Uncovering Happiness

by Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D.

You have a purpose in being here…
… and part of that is remembering that you are part of something much larger than yourself.

Science and thousands of years of human experience are showing us a feeling of connection to something greater than ourselves gives us a heightened sense of well-being and resiliency. In short, it’s a natural antidepressant.

I want to invite you to an experiment based on practices in my new book, Uncovering Happiness, that can help you nurture this positive shift in your brain and positively impact the world around you.

Over the next 21 days you’ll be guided through something very simple and profound; discovering a prosocial purpose and turning your purpose into a verb.

The structure for this is loose; there is nothing strict or rigid about this program. The intention of the following 21 days is to deepen your connection to purpose and compassion in your own life and get some support in the process.

Each day you’ll receive a writing to reflect on to light up the compassionate brain. You’ll then be reminded of these three key questions from Uncovering Happiness to help keep you focused and on track:

What pro-social purpose are you involved in?

What action can I take today that is in line with this purpose?

What is this action in service of that is greater than myself?

I recommend weaving in some of the attitudes of play from Uncovering Happiness in order not to get overly serious about the whole endeavor, see it more from a learning lens and make it a playful endeavor.

A very wise woman once told me,
“If something is valuable, give it away.”

That may sound strange, but I understand what she means. As we give away what is valuable, we inevitably get back something invaluable.

If you’re wondering what that is, take a leap to commit to 21 Days of Purpose and discover it for yourself.

Commit to 21 Days of Purpose Now!

You can try this experiment on your own, or it can be fun to do with friends. Let others know what you’re up to and see the ripple effects of a group doing 21 Days of Purpose together. Share it:

We are asking people to reflect on their experiences here to let us know how it’s going. Feel free to post about the purpose your engaging, or write about it on your own blog. Comments here are welcome from anyone.

10 Comments

Looking for a prosocial purpose on day 1 of 21 days. It suddenly came to me that it was a good idea to build a website for charities around the country to publicize. That way people who want to help and don’t know what to do or where to start can have a place to search what resonates with them. I see USA has some of this websites, but I don’t think Mexico does… I’ll dive into it and inform myself!

Hi,
This exercise is showing me how disconnected I am at times. However it has also made me remember that I already make financial contributions to children’s and animal welfare charities which I forgot about! This has made me feel good and actively look to to build on this giving.
Thanks

Today is the day 3 of my adventure in the 21 days of purpose.
I reflect on what I have done. Just doing by myself is not enough. I have to share the joy and success with my students. However, I am not able to take care of so many!! How can I do?
It is best to choose some to be the leaders who can then guide the others. By doing so, more will be benefited from learning giving out compassion and gratitude through altruism. I will recommend my students to join the 21 days of purpose to fully immerse in this job rather than having a vicarious experience through. To taste by themselves is the greatest joy they can have!

Today I am extremely happy. Simply because I really do what I learn: taking the prosocial action to give out altruism.
I offer free services to students who have learning difficulties. By acquiring a workable communication skills in English, they are easy to find jobs in the hospitality industries. A charitable non-profit organization run by one of our local universities will open soon. I am the volunteer to offer help and assistance to these students free of charge to improve their English skills by making use the evidence-based Fast ForWord program which has been developed by Scientific Learning Corporation in the U.S.
So happy I’m today.
It is true as said by Dr. Elisha Goldstein, “There are so many opportunities every day for us to show compassion and gratitude.through altruism.”
Well done!! Jackson Mak
Keep on showing more compassion and gratitude through altruism EVERY DAY!

Day 1 of 2017. Day 1 of 21 Days of Purpose. Hmmmm. What an auspicious accident . . . I\\\’ve been practicing/attempting Mindful Self Compassion for years. Still working on that knee-jerk resistance to the very idea of compassion for myself. Somehow my prosocial purpose involves strengthening a gut level, felt recognition of the ways being a good friend to myself is also a contribution to the wellbeing of those around me. My wish for 2017 – may we all be deeply well.

I remained true to my ability to put a friend first, while maintaining my own boundaries! Friendship holds us all together and doing my best to nourish those roots is the small role I can play on a daily basis.

I met challenging strangers with grace. I embraced challenging friends with empathy. I will allow myself no more than 2 minutes to “entertain” a negative thought that presents itself. Wow, that leaves a whole lot more time to spread the joy!

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